NEWS ARCHIVE

We tried Costco's new burger and it's not a 'Shake Shack' clone

ostco's new trial run of cheeseburgers (taste-tested in Seattle) features crisp lettuce and fresh tomatoes with a 1/3-pound organic beef patty.

SOURCE: Chris Preovolos

We tried Costco's new burger and it's not a 'Shake Shack' clone

Share

Shares

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

Updated: 10:03 PM EDT Jul 10, 2017

No, Costco's new food court burger is not a Shake Shack doppelgänger, but you should still hope it comes to a warehouse store near you.

The big box retailer has been testing out a $4.99 burger at its food courts in a few locations on the West Coast. In May, EaterLA posted an item about how the burger "looked an awful lot" like the burgers from Danny Meyer's Shake Shack restaurants, based in New York.

Advertisement

That's all well and good — they were going off of a photo, which is all they had at the time — but since then folks have run with the comparison. It's time for a reality check.

With all of this in the news, tracking down this burger seemed preordained. Truth be told, I have a special affinity for the Costco Food Court since a summer job there was the only non-newspaper job I've ever had.

So, here's the deal:

Costco says the 1/3-pound burgers are made with "organic ground beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato, with our own special sauce on a brioche style bun."

Chris Preovolos

They are $5 food court guilty-pleasure good, and then some, but let's be honest: you don't get the $1.50 hot dog because it's the pinnacle of American sausage-making, so rein in your expectations.

Chris Preovolos

The bun is soft and light with some egginess, but still on the lighter-side in color. The quality of the bun is what stands out to me the most about the new burger. Combined with crisp lettuce and fresh tomatoes, Costco is off to a good start here and the "special sauce" was applied sparingly.

Shake Shack famously smashes their patties (which are much smaller) on a griddle or flattop and the results are beautiful and caramelized. This is probably the defining characteristic of their product.

What you get at Costco is a lean, pre-formed patty that is somewhat strangely daisy shaped and is cooked to medium in a small char-broiler. The result is nothing close to the same, but it's not meant to be.

Those familiar with the Roma tomatoes on burgers from the 'Shack will also notice that Costco uses more of a Jersey tomato.

The cheese on the burger I had was not melted due to a hiccup in the process at the Costco I visited (they temporarily ran out of cheese and had to send a runner out for more), so it's not clear to me whether it's standard practice to melt it onto the burger or not.

Irrespective of cheese-doneness it's a solid fast food burger and will surely be a crowd pleaser, though my personal preference would be for something a little smaller. It's also worth noting that Costco food courts do not have deep fryers, so you definitely won't be getting fries with that.

Costco corporate is being somewhat tight-lipped about the trial and the potential roll-out of the burgers. So far they appear to be available in the Seattle area, some stores in Southern California and — at least according to Reddit users — in Livermore and Folsom, California.

I would happily lay down five bucks for one of these burgers on my weekly Costco shop should the company make them available more widely, just don't expect a Shake Shack-like cult following.